Fought in a blizzard on Palm Sunday, Towton was the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. Edward IV commanded a Yorkist army that caught a strong Lancastrian force on a plateau above the River Cock. A blizzard drove snow into Lancastrian faces, giving Yorkist archers an enormous advantage — their arrows outranged the Lancastrian return fire. As the line collapsed, fleeing Lancastrians were cut down at the Cock Beck in scenes of wholesale slaughter. Edward reportedly gave no quarter. The fighting lasted ten hours.
Towton broke Lancastrian military power for a decade and secured Edward IV's throne. Up to 28,000 men died — perhaps one percent of England's entire population. It remains the bloodiest single day in English history. The scale of the slaughter forced both sides to recognise that the war could consume the nobility itself.
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The day after Hlobane, the main Zulu army of approximately 20,000 attacked Evelyn Wood's fortified camp at Kambula. This time the British were ready — the camp was laagered and entrenched, ammunition was accessible, and the men were not surprised. The Zulus attacked in their traditional 'chest and horns' formation but could not break through the disciplined fire. When the Zulus began to waver, the British cavalry launched a pursuit that extended the victory into a rout, killing thousands in retreat.
Kambula was the decisive battle of the war. The Zulu army that had annihilated Isandlwana was broken here. The cavalry pursuit, which extended the killing deep into the retreat, was tactically brilliant. The Zulu army never recovered its offensive capacity.
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